Amplifier Ventures Founder Launches New Business to Help Family-Owned Businesses Transition and Grow

Accerta Group will provide objective, multidisciplinary business advice to family-owned businesses.

McLean, VA (prHWY.com) March 12, 2010 - Jonathan Aberman, founder of Amplifier Ventures, and a group of experienced family business owners, business leaders and consultants, have formed Accerta Group to provide objective, multidisciplinary advice to the owners and professional managers of family-owned businesses. Accerta Group expands upon the experienced team that has assisted entrepreneurs through Amplifier Ventures by adding conflict resolution, organizational psychology and leadership training. It will provide a unified offering to help family firms meet their specific challenges in generational transition, strategic development, legacy planning and other areas.

Accerta Group builds on Amplifier Ventures' established reputation as an entrepreneur-friendly organization that provides excellent assistance to technology entrepreneurs by listening and appreciating the specific challenges of technology entrepreneurs. Accerta applies the same strong listening and communication skills to provide sophisticated, practical and actionable advice to family-business owners - delivered free of conflict and from an objective viewpoint. Accerta targets non-technology businesses with revenues of $10 to $100 million.

"The problem with existing solutions for family business is that they are offered by "experts" who generally only are able to advise entrepreneurs to do that which the expert can sell them. This results in narrow and often useless advice. Family businesses need objective, experienced advice that finds the best solution for that family and business and then provides high quality expert resources to help the business succeed and survive," noted Jonathan Aberman, Managing Director of Accerta Group. "Like most of our team, I grew up in a family businesses - two actually -- so when we help a family business owner we understand the real concerns and speak the same language."

Accerta Group's team includes members of the Amplifier Ventures team and adds members with expertise specifically relevant to the challenges of family-owned businesses. Accerta Group is led by Jonathan Aberman, the founder of Amplifier Ventures and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business, where he teaches entrepreneurship in family-owned businesses, business strategy and corporate finance; Edgar Rios, a co-founder of AmeriChoice, a family-owned business that is now as part of UnitedHealth Group, the largest operator of Medicaid managed healthcare programs in the United States; Michael Dering, formerly CEO of Service Bench, a recognized expert in business management and expansion; and Rich Moore, a well-known advisor and board member for public and private companies such as Vocus and Natural Insight, with expertise in marketing, public relations, sales and international expansion.

Edgar Rios, a co-founder of Accerta was specifically drawn to the quality of the team, and when he decided to help start Accerta Group he looked to his own experience as the co-founder of a successful family-owned business. "When we were operating and growing our business, we didn't want advice from someone who looked good in a suit; we wanted advice from someone who walked in our shoes and had been successful in his or her own business. We started Accerta because our team has been there, is sophisticated and can talk with family business owners as peers and confidants. At a time of crisis there is nothing more valuable than that."

Accerta Group benefits from its access to a group of current and former owners of closely-held and family-owned businesses in industries such as government contracting, healthcare delivery and technologies, engineering, retail, distribution, manufacturing, food services, transportation, software and technology. The Accerta Owners Council is chaired by Emilio Fernandez, currently Vice Chairman of Wabtec Corp., and previously the founder and owner of several family-owned businesses.

Added Aberman, "The challenges facing family-owned businesses have never been greater than they are today. The difficult economic environment compounds an already growing crisis - 70% of today's family-owned businesses are going to face the challenge of ownership transition in the next ten years. We want to make sure that they don't fail."

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release, contact Jonathan Aberman or visit http://www.accertagroup.com.

About Jonathan Aberman

Jonathan Aberman has recently been recognized by both the Washington Business Journal and the Northern Virginia Technology Council as a "friend to entrepreneurs" in the Washington, DC business community. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, where he teaches courses in entrepreneurship in family businesses, strategic development, business planning and corporate finance. He is also founder of Amplifier Ventures, an established investor in early stage technology companies in the Washington, DC region. Prior to founding Amplifier Ventures, he was an emerging company attorney and prior to that an investment banker and arbitrage trader. He is a regular contributor to all media in matters relating to small business and speaks regularly at conferences and events targeted at entrepreneurs.

About Accerta Group

Accerta Group provides family-owned and closely-held businesses with $10 to $100 million in revenue with the same caliber of advice available to Fortune 500 companies, but scaled to fit their size. Accerta Group's multidisciplinary team of proven business advisors and executives provides objective, practical advice to business owners. Our team members have extensive experience gained in diverse disciplines, such as finance, marketing, law, executive coaching, organizational psychology, investment management, dispute resolution, business technology and business management.

About Amplifier Ventures

Amplifier Ventures is an early stage venture capital fund that has been operating since 2005. It has eight current investments, including Bright Hub, Cardstar, Guitar Affair, Hook Mobile, iBelong Networks, Vente Netowks, Veriam and Zenoss. It generally is the first institutional investor in the companies that it finances. Amplifier Ventures is affiliated with Amplifier Networks. Amplifier Networks provides entrepreneur focused content and education in collaborative online communities and classes.

###

Tag Words: transition, entrepreneurs, family owned, owners, business, advice, help, grow

Categories: Business | Investment

Press Release Contact
Jonathan Aberman
Accerta Group LLC
703-260-1700

Link To This Press Release:

URL HTML Code